Aster
by Darkanny
Summary: Sequel to "Fur balls know better". Bunny and Jack take baby steps into their relationship, both ignoring the other's intentions, which just so happen to be the same. Jackrabbit.
1. Chapter 1

Have you ever had the feeling something has gone really bad? Like, that moment when you wake up on your own before your alarm clock sounds or when that last piece of cake you've been saving since ever for a special occasion gets eaten by someone else? Don't you ever feel like someone up there is trying to play a joke on you, when you can't explain why things are so weird? That's exactly how a certain Easter Bunny was feeling right now, as if he was the victim of a prank soon to be played.

Because really, what the hell was Jack Frost doing in his library?

Oh, he got his suspicions alright, maybe the kid was trying to find a way to catch him off-guard, freeze his feet to the floor and mess up with his holiday, or maybe he wanted to find one of his spell books so he could beat Bunny in a race, or it could be a way to spoil his chocolate recipes for next Easter and—oh, forget it, Aster, he wouldn't do that, not now at least.

Jack had been living in his Warren for the last couple of months, and has been quite helpful, actually; the seedlings got taken care of, the Burrow was clean and tidy, the helpers were feed and even groomed (Frost has asked Jamie for a brush) and he must have done something for the egglets too since they were so keen on following everywhere when he was with both feet on solid ground. All in all he couldn't think of the Snowflake getting himself into any mischief involving himself or the Warren, and there was again the question of what exactly was he doing with a bunch of his book settled in piles all around him.

And being the straight forward guy he was, he just decided to ask.

Marching forward, he made his way into the room, hopping over a few books laying haphazardly on the ground, and reaching the teen at the other end of the place, who didn't seem to notice him, he was so focused on whatever he was looking for in that book. Bunny crossed his arms over his chest and started tapping the ground with his foot, clearing his throat loudly so the winter sprite would notice his damn presence.

Jack jumped in his place at the sudden noise, looking up to find the Pooka watching him with one raised eyebrow. "Oh, hey Bunny" he said "umm…sorry about the mess, just got bored and wanted to know about what this books where about because they don't really have titles or anything so-" he cut himself at the slightly stronger tapping of the furry foot. "…I'll leave everything as it was, I swear!"

As Jack said this, Bunny had moved over and was now sitting down next to Jack, his long furry legs stretched awkwardly on the floor. Turning his head he tried to get a look at the book the teen was holding. "A botanical book? Whatever are you reading that for, Snowflake?" he asked with a small amused smile. Well, Jack thought, at least he wasn't mad over the mess or anything.

That was good.

"Umm…nothing really, just tried to figure which book was about what to put them in order, almost none of these have covers or titles, y'know, must be easy for you to recognize them though, so maybe I should just leave them as they are…" he trailed off a bit, eyes focusing on the detailed drawing of a Water Lily on the page he was into, thumb lightly fiddling with the corner of the page. "…Ah! But don't worry, like I said, I'll leave everything just as it was, so you can, uh, go out and

paint some eggs or groom your fur or whatever you do at this time of year, yep, soooo" Jack's sudden jump from the floor almost made Aster topple backwards, if it weren't for the wall holding his back. He didn't even have time to mutter a reply when Jack called the wind and all but blew Bunny out of his own library, shutting the door with a loud "THUD".

Aster stood there, back to the door and fur on end from the chilly wind, and the only thing that came to his mind was:

"What the heck just happened?"

* * *

The event in the library wasn't the only time Aster noticed how weird Jack was behaving. Suddenly he was really well behaved, keeping everything in order and, for some reason, spending a lot of time in the library, and if he wasn't there, he would disappear somewhere out of the warren and come back with leaves in his air and dirt in his hands. Every time Bunny asked him just what on earth was he doing, the winter sprite would smile brightly and him and pinch his nose—'That's not of your business, Kangaroo'—he would say, and then he would go play with the helpers.

Aster tried talking to the others to see if they knew what was going on with his newest addition, but North didn't have the slightest idea, Tooth would only shake her head(strangely more in a condescending way than unknowing one) and ask if Jack was doing good down there—'All that chocolate! Oh, I hope he is flossing'—, and Sandy, the smug little know-it-all would grin at him and nod, but then he'd refused to tell him what was going on with the teen.

Upon returning to the Warren, he was shocked to find Jack, broom in hand, dusting every surface of his burrow, even the ceiling which not even Bunny could reach jumping. Apparently the boy had heard him coming in, because as soon as he caught the oversized rabbit form the corner of his eye, he dropped the broom and flew down to stand on the ground in front of him, picking up the discarded broom and holding it close to his torso, in the exact same way he would his staff. "Bunny! Hey, I was just cleaning a bit, I swear, no peeking at anything and I didn't break anything either, was planning to leave before you arrived but I'll just do it now so I won't bother you, ok?" everything was said in a fast line of words and, once again, Jack left before Aster could as much as lift his paw to stop him.

Instead he moved over to a chair and flopped down on it, wondering just why his stomach was flipping like if he'd eaten a flock of butterflies.

* * *

Things just kept on going weirder and weirder.

Jack not only had swept his burrow all over, but also had taken down the leaves of the trees that were changing foliage, flying over them at such a speed not even one was left standing, and then he would use the wind to pick them all and take dispose them; he also kept on leaving behind a series of small ice sculptures: flowers, little animals, eggs covered in complicated designs, everything that Aster found charming in some way or another. And for some even weirder reason, he had stopped playing with the little bunnies, or even getting near them, and for some reason it didn't seem to bother them, even though Aster knew just how much they loved to mess with him.

But Bunny also found out that, since Jack had stopped rolling around the fuzzy fur balls, his natural scent was kind of everywhere, he just hadn't noticed the kid had almost always smelled like his helpers since he had moved in. Now he could smell the strange—but no less enjoyable—mix of the scent of ice and clean snow intertwined with moist soil.

Why did Jack smell of soil, anyway?

Well, he thought, which was by far the less strange thing about him right now. Apart from everything he had done around the place, his behavior towards Aster himself was getting weird.

Jack had taken the habit of following him, hiding between the tree tops or behind boulders or sentinels, thinking Bunny hadn't noticed him, or he would follow beside him, jumping around him playfully, and even once he suddenly tackled him to the ground, where he proceeded to run his cold hands all over his scruff and part of his chest, leaving the Pooka like a pile of goo on the floor, leg twitching madly and paws curled under his chin, then he would leave again, leaving Aster with a fuzzy and warm feeling spreading all over his body.

And suddenly he started to get worried.

All this should have been just games to Jack, little things to have fun at his expenses, but it was starting to affect him in a completely different way. He had started to wander around the forest, following the crisp scent Jack left wherever he stood for more than a minute, and if he found a particularly strong smelling spot, he would flop down and roll over the grass, getting the scent over his own fur. He would also stay awake at night, hopping right outside the teen's assigned room, until he heard the distinctive sound of the even breathing of the sleeping, and then he would calmly go to his own nest, assured that Frostbite would have enough rest. And even one time he had taken Jack a basket full of fresh fruit as a gift and, after giving it to him, he had sat next to him and cleaned all the dirt spread over his hair, hands and clothes, grooming and shaking wherever it was necessary, and mind you, Jack didn't seem to be bothered at all, if the content sigh he got in response was anything to go by.

Fucking hell.

He was courting the damn kid.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is chronologically before the first one**

* * *

If one asked Jack how this all started, he would have to recall that day a couple of months ago, when he and Bunny had the little, strangely friendly talk on top of one of the highest points of America.

Right after they have returned to the Warren, racing each other, Jack had left a moment to greet the small rabbits scattered all around a pond of cool water, and the moment he put a cold foot in the zone, every single fluffy head perked up, ears straight in point and whiskers twitching madly, and after a few seconds of staring at him...they just ran away. Confused as hell, Jack stood there, hand raised in a futile attempt to reach for the too-damn-fast animals, until he saw that one had stayed.

Dottie stood, as tall as he could be, over the cropped rock he was napping on, brow furrowed and nose twitching (and he looked so much like when Aster had become small himself, all angry and fuzzy, that he had to contain the need to coo over him), and when the winter child approached him, slowly, he barely managed to stay in his spot, a hind leg moving backwards, as if ready to sprint away like the others.

"Hey boy" Jack said softly, dropping the staff to the ground and crouching low so he could crawl up to him. "What's wrong? Why did all the others run away?" finally he managed to place a hand on top of his head, scratching between his ears, watching him try to relax at the touch but at the same time trying to scurry away from him. Finally, after a couple minutes, Jack lifted his hand, and Dottie looked at him, then promptly turned around and left.

If the words "What the hell" could be found in a dictionary, there would be a picture of Jack's face at that instant.

The teen then remembered that this little creatures were in part Tooth's job, so he flew as fast as he could towards the tunnel heading to Asia, bypassing Bunny with a quick 'Be right back!' and leaving the warren to visit the feathered guardian.

Upon arriving to the buzzy Tooth Palace, he found himself free of the small, smothering fairies, which only seemed to raise his concern more, why was every one of this helpers avoiding him? Was it something to do with the spell? A particularly loud chirp made him turn around, coming face to face with Baby Tooth, who was looking at him with concern, a questioning noise coming out of her, and a small hand reaching for him but stopping at mid-stretch, coiling back to her feathery body, and just as suddenly as she'd appeared, she was gone.

Jack hurried up to the central tower, finding Tooth as busy as ever, talking to everyone and to no one at the same time, words coming out of her mouth as fast as the beating of her wings. Then, when the ice elf flew into the place, just as it had happened in the Warren, every single small fairy stopped, looked at Jack, gasped and flew away, leaving only the Queen Fairy floating in mid-air, her face blank and staring at Jack as if he just told him he got a caries in every one of his teeth. The teen, not wanting to prolong the awkwardness even more, landed in front of her and leaned against one of the pillars of the tower, feeling somewhat bashful under the wide-eyed expression of the other guardian.

"Hey Tooth" he started "I was hoping you could help me with something, you see..." but the fairy wasn't listening, she started moving around the tower, like little spasms had taken over her flight and she could only go with them. She glanced at Jack now and then, but it looked as if..."Tooth...are you ignoring me? I mean, I know you're busy and all, but wow, okay, if you want me to leave then I'll be gone, no need to act as if I weren't here, I got enough of that for a few centuries" the last parted was muttered low enough, but the Tooth Fairy heard him anyway, and quickly went after him.

"No, wait Jack" she grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from leaving the ground and landing herself. "I-I'm sorry, I just, it took me by surprise, you know, I never knew-well I suspected it actually, what with all the time you spend with him as of late and honestly you two are great together but I never knew that you have already-" her blabbering was cut short when the winter spirit held a hand in front of her face.

"Waitwaitwaitwait, WHAT are you talking about? I came here to ask if you knew what was wrong with Bunny's helpers, and since your fairies just did the same thing (and you too, for that matter) I supposed you would explain it to me but just WHO and what are you talking about?!" his voice had raised at some point, not out of anger or frustration, but from pure and raw curiosity. The fairy looked at him with wide eyes again, and suddenly her expression became bashful and nervous, maybe realizing something she had just said wasn't in Jack's plans at all.  
"Oh...so you don't...you haven't...with him and..."

"Who, Toothiana, I haven't done what with who?" he had used her full name unconsciously, making clear to her that he really didn't have a clue.

"Your...your scent..." she babbled, pointing weakly at his head, a nervous smile rising the left corner of her mouth."...Oh, but of course you didn't notice, human noses aren't as developed, but that doesn't explain why because if you don't know then you didn't and if you didn't then when and how and oh MIM you better go and talk this to him, I don't really think is up to me to explain it to you"

Jack stared at her dumbfounded for a minute, then he asked the same thing he had been asking since his arrival: "Who, Tooth"

"Bunny"

* * *

Neck breaking was the only word to describe the speed Jack had left the Palace with, hurrying to the tunnel and back to the Warren in record time, he flew over a sentinel and searched around the place, looking for a certain pair of fluffy ears. He even called his name a few times while circling the vast expanse of the spring wonderland, but to no avail; it seemed Bunny was out somewhere.

Oh well, Jack thought, if he couldn't get answers from the Pooka himself then he'd have to look on his own. Landing softly on the grassy ground, the guardian of fun made his way leisurely towards the burrow.

The place Bunny (and more recently, Jack) called home was a really nice, cozy place. In the less forestall part of the Warren, where plain fields and rolling hills predominated, near a small lake, there was a lump of earth and grass that seemed to inflate itself over the ground, a hill of sorts, if not for the round wooden door at the front, which reminded Jack of a story he had read a century or so ago. Right after entering the place, there was a round room that served as a reception hall, a living room and a connecting point for all the other rooms; a few hand-made chairs and cushions here and there, and small rectangular shaped holes in the walls, where Aster would place small knick knacks or a flower pot.

The walls of the room were filled with a series of connecting tunnels that led to different rooms, each one carefully dug and carved. Taking the tunnel in the Northwest far side, Jack guided himself through the darkness, lighting up his staff to not crash against a wall and to relieve himself of the dread that something could be lurking in the shadows (Pitch still was a fresh memory in his mind). After a few minutes of walking and turning through the tunnel, he found himself in front of a small, light colored door, door that he easily opened to slid into the room.

The place was big, being an underground room gave Bunny all the space he wanted and needed, and more if he feel the need to expand. It was lightened with torches carefully placed in holders in the walls, safe enough as to not burn the delicate and ancient books perfectly preserved from humidity and time. The library wasn't off limits, as the Easter guardian had said himself at some point while showing Jack his new home, but that didn't mean said teen was allowed to get his sticky hands on everything in there.

There was a special section, up above everything else, which was restricted. It wasn't really that protected, and Jack could easily just float there and grab whatever he wanted, but he had earned Bunny's trust, and he wasn't about to shatter that trust just to fill his curiosity. But this time he needed answers, answers that no one was about to give him, it seemed. Reaching up, he glanced at the few small, but rather thick, leather-bound books. One, two, three, four...seven; there were seven books in total and, like every book in the library, none had a title or name in the cover.

He grabbed the first one, a rectangular one, with a dark green cover and decorated with a ridiculous amount of bows and ribbons at the front, causing Jack to giggle and a grin full of mischief to appear on his face, changing to a softer, surprised expression upon opening the books to find a drawing taking up the first page, it was a cute picture of a couple of bunnies, big smiles on their furred faces. One, the biggest, was wearing something that looked like a green coat, while the other, smaller and plumper, wore a yellow dress. Both had grey fur and under them was written in a childish calligraphy "MAMA AN DADA". Jack kept on turning the pages, finding more drawings like the first, with other bunnies, or some flowers, even a few nonsensical paintings. It appeared this was Bunny's first sketchbook, if the drawings were anything to go by, and they seemed to get better as he went on, to the point of finding the last page with the same picture that was in the front, only this time it was incredibly detailed, looking like a black and white photograph, vines and flowers decorating the borders.

Jack closed the book and put it back in place, reaching for the second, it was bigger, a red square with a clover in the middle, filled with descriptions of potentially powerful herbs that could either cure any disease or kill a small country, depending on how they were handled.

Probably Bunny thought it better away from curious eyes, and so Jack put it back next to the other.

Then came the third, it was black and small, very much like the notebook Jamie used to carry around filled with any paranormal little thing he believed in before meeting the Guardians. The teen opened it and that was when his eyes snapped open and started reading at light speed.

He stood there, floating with the book in his pale hands, turning the page every few seconds, reading and reading and reading, until he closed it with a SNAP and put it back as fast as he could, flying towards the door and barely managing to close the door and light up his staff as he raced back to the Warren, and then out, out, out and through the tunnels toward Burgess, his lake waiting to calm his accelerated mind.

Reaching the frozen pond, he sat down on the eternal ice, hugging his left knee to his chest and dropping his staff next to him. Recreating the past months in his head, he connected everything with what he'd read from that book.

First, Bunny had let him stay at his home, his own world and sanctuary to be left alone. Him. Jack Frost. The most destructive creature the world have ever seen, according to the rabbit himself.

Second, the little helpers, that were extensions of Aster (and of course they were, Bunny was just a big ball of insecurity about his own feelings and you know it) were really, really affectionate with him, and he could even say the Guardian of hope was jealous of the time Jack spent with them, which meant he was angry at the winter child or at the fur balls, and something told him it was more likely than the latter was true.

Third, and more important, that little talk they had at the top of the mountain range. It had been a weird, but unusually warm moment between the two, and apparently that was when all this problem had begun. Bunny must have been really happy at the time of their little hug, because it just so seemed his instincts had kicked in and he'd let out his pheromones unconsciously.

That is, he had marked Jack. As his property.

As his potential mate, more precisely.

The book ("The complete guide of what every young Pooka must know about the ancient art of courting") had described that Bunny was courting Jack without even realizing it.

"Okay...okay, let's-let's just...relax, Jack, relaaax, relaaaxed, relaxing is good, gooood" the winter sprite said to himself, a slow mantra for his very troubled mind. What was he supposed to do now? He could...he could...he could what? Respond? Deny? Ignore?

"Fuck" cursing, he ruffled his already messy hair, sighing heavily and really focusing this time, no time to wander with random thoughts. Ok, so, Bunny. Bunny liked him. Apparently. Maybe. I don't know. What if he really was just doing this unconsciously? What if it was just a mistake? It was so...surreal. He had a really good relationship with Bunny now, and it had been hard work (great, he really had fallen into the "hard work" type of guardian, just fucking great)keeping up with what he should and shouldn't do around him, what he liked, what he disliked, the times he could be bothered, the times when work was first, the times when he'd be happy enough to have some company while painting his googies, everything that would ensure him a place in the rabbit's mind...

Just his mind?

Eyes digging holes through the ice under him, Jack started to remember, how had he felt when Aster had let him stay with him at his home?

Good, it had been good; feeling like he had a place to arrive at the end of the day, to have someone waiting for him, someone who would worry if he didn't appear or if he got caught in troubles...

Right, soooo, then with the whole hugging matter, he had started it as a way to drive Bunny nuts, honestly, just a running prank, especially for him, just for Bunny...GAH! OK, YEAH, PRANK. But, even when he had stopped getting bothered by it (more like just surprised each time), Jack had kept on it, the warm fluffiness of the Pooka drawing him in like a kitten wanting to take a nap near the hearth. It was really nice, actually, he wouldn't deny that one.

And then, the little heart-to-heart talk they had, it had been...yeah, weird, but in a nice way, weird in how easy it was to talk about such unmanly things like feelings and weakness and stuff, yeah, even for a big fluffy rabbit who loved children and colors and cute stuff in general, very weird. Bunny wasn't the kind of guy to be so open with his emotions, yet he had left Jack an open door, and he had gone through it, and was very pleased with what he found: a very warm and nice person who had enough trust in you to tell you his problems, and who was a very good friend; a nice, as Bunny would say, mate.

...

...

Mate.  
...

MATE.

THERE IT WAS AGAIN.

THAT WORD.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Jack grabbed his face and tumbled backwards, back colliding with frozen water with a soundless impact. Removing his left hand from his face, he dropped it over his head, right forearm coming to rest over both his eyes, soft puffs of air wafting from his mouth.

Bunny was courting him, wanted him to be his mate, and he didn't know what to do.


	3. Chapter 3

**This one is the continuation of the second chapter, after this it gets into normal timeline, following the first chapter, sorry for the mess**

* * *

"There you are, mate" Bunny said as soon as Jack appeared from behind a tree. He was sitting in a small meadow near the burrow, a small army of eggs jumping around, trying to get their turn to get painted. "Was there a fire somewhere or somethin'? Only time I've seen someone fly so fast was when this Austrian kid lost his first molar and Tooth…you okay kid?" his tone changed to a kind-of-concerned-because-he-totally-wasn't-worrie d-about-the-boy's-long-face one, leaving the half-way painted egg in his hands on the floor with the others and getting up to hop over to the teen. His ears perked in surprise when Jack flinched a little at the closeness and took a small step back, his staff coming to cross over his chest in a distinctively protective manner.

"O-of course I'm fine, Kangaroo, just…tired, there was this big holiday in Russia and I though a good snow day was in order, sure the workers weren't so happy but the kids had their fun" it was true, in a way; after almost melting his brain thinking on the "m" word subject, he decided to clear his head the only way he knew: snowballs and fun times. It had worked, his head was clearer and he wasn't as stressed, so he thought going to the Warren now would be a good idea.

Oh, how wrong he was.

As soon as he'd arrived, he'd made his way through the place, searching for a fluffy cottontail, but the mere thought gave him goosebumps (mind you, goosebumps in a winter spirit, he almost had to laugh) and so the moment the Pooka came to view, panic started to seep through his mind again, and he was about to fly off again, but a deep voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

And now here he was, face to face with the root of his every problem.

"…lp me over here with the…Frostbite? You there larrikin?" Bunny tapped Jack's head lightly, breaking the small trance the winter spirit was into.

"W-what? Sorry, I was just…uh…" Jack couldn't exactly phrase what he was thinking about, he wasn't ready for awkward conversations yet.

Bunny let out a sigh, but a phantom of a smile showed through it "I said that if you don't have anything else to do now, you could help me over here with the googies, they've been quite restless for some reason, and two hands ain't enough to handle 'em" he then looked pointedly at the way the egglets climbed over each other, trying to get his attention. The blue one he was just painting trying to get up from under the pile.

Jack grinned at the eggs, they were so cute, damn it. "Sure I can, Fluffybottom, gimme a brush and let's get started" he said while walking past Aster towards the egg pile and the paint jars. Bunny looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Fluffybottom?"

"Cottontail is getting kind of old, don't you think? Or would you rather choose yourself?" Jack smiled tauntingly at him, giving a pointed look his direction, waiting for the response he knew was coming.

And sure enough, the brush hitting his head was—kind of—enough of an answer for him to drop on his back and start laughing.

* * *

Oh damn it all to hell and back.

This has to be my worst idea ever.

Jack thoughts were plagued with self-insulting and remorse, because try as he might, he could not paint more than a single egg every five minutes, not because of lack of talent—he was very proud of his frost designs, thank you very much—but because of the damn giant alien warrior rabbit in front of him.

Because all be damned, he had started to actually pay attention to the other guardian.

A lot of attention.

He remembered reading something on the internet—Tumblr, actually, damn that website—when visiting Jamie, about how you would start liking someone back if they told you they liked you, and apparently finding out the unconscious —or so he hoped— courting from Bunny had had the same effect on him.

He now noticed, working silently behind the rabbit, just how soft and shiny his fur appeared under the light coming down over the meadow, a soft ever-present current of warm wind ruffling his back fur, producing lighter and darker colors to appear. It was also quite nice to see all the muscles working beneath the fluff, slowly accommodating to let his arms move and his hands trace delicate patterns over the egg held carefully on his palm…

And then the egg in Jack's palm fell to the ground.

It was a soundless fall, the egg not breaking nor scurrying back to the ice teen, but rather running back to the pile waiting to be painted by the more expert hands of the Easter Bunny.

Jack didn't notice though, too busy hitting himself with his staff, small snowflakes falling over his overheated face. No! He thought, I did just NOT check Bunny out! Cursing himself again, he got up…

And promptly stepped into the pond.

The splashing sound caught Aster's attention and he turned his head, catching a glimpse of the spirit sitting in the 20 inches deep pond, splashing water into his face and plainly trying to drown himself.

Oh the irony.

Feeling the water start to freeze around him, Jack stood and flew away, landing a few feet away from his original painting spot to shake himself like a dog would, the rest freezing naturally around him. Feeling observed, he turned to see Bunny watching him with the most perfect expression of 'are you stoned?' he'd ever seen, and suddenly he started to feel a little uncomfortable under the piercing gaze of the most ridiculously green eyes he was sure the world had yet to see.

"…Nope" he said, before returning to the pond, kneeling at the border and sinking his face in the cool liquid.

Bunny just turned around and kept working.

"Crazy drongo"

* * *

"I just don't know what's wrong with me, Jamie, one moment he's the grumpy rabbit that's just asking for a snowball in the face, and next he's all soft fur and cute paintings and flowers and ugh" Jack stopped talking, making a grimace, as if he was disgusted with his own thoughts. He had thought that visiting Jamie would clear his head and so he had made his way to Burgess, only he forgot the small detail of the rabbit plushie Jamie still had in an honor place in his bed. It had triggered all his problems back to his mind and the kid had no more than said 'hi!' and he saw himself with a handful of angsty confused eternal teenager Guardian.

He wasn't expecting Jack to start fussing about a possible attraction between him and Bunny.

Jack Frost and the Easter Bunny. Who would have thought it?

Now, with Sophie at his side—she seemed to work as a stress-reliever to the Guardians in general—Jack sat on Jamie's bed, the kid sitting on a wheeling chair in front of him ( if their mother came in, it would look as if Jamie was playing with Sophie instead of talking to the air). Jamie himself was entering puberty, and to imagine that he would end a blabbering mess like Jack was right now terrified him, but he nonetheless tried to help his friend with his actual predicament.

"Ok, so, Bunny started acting too friendly at some point and unconsciously chose you as his…mate? That right?"

Jack nodded, softly threading his cold fingers through Sophie's uneven hair "Yeah, kind of. I mean, he could have not meant it but the damage's done; the bunnies and fairies won't get near me, and every single animal I passed by on my way here scurried away, even the snow foxes! And they love me!" He sighed, hugging his right knee to his chest, eyes turning glazy and looking into the distance.

"Well, have you talked with him? Maybe it can be reversed, like, a 'counter-marking' or something, he's a Guardian, shouldn't he be able to do magical and cool stuff and all that?" Jamie waved his arms over his head, putting emphasis in the 'magical', Sophie giggled and jumped a bit, wriggling her arms as well.

"That's not the problem, the issue here is…I might want to keep this going" a minute of silence followed his words.

"….What?" was the whispered answer from the brunet, his eyes dropping to look awkwardly at his hands for a moment "but, if you do want to go on with it, does it mean…do you like Aster?" before Jack had even time to open his mouth, the blonde girl jumped from the bed squealing.  
"Aster! Aster!" she laughed and ran around the room, as if believing the cute Easter Bunny was hiding somewhere there.

"Jamie? Sophie? Is everything alright up there?" came their mother's voice from the stairs, Jamie gasped and scrambled out to the hall.

"Yes mom, we're just playing!"

"Why is Sophie yelling 'aster' so much then?"

"Ummm…she was telling me about the asters she saw at the flower shop down the street, she says she liked them a lot and wanted to go get some"

Jack heard the woman's laugh from the room "Well, I suppose I can take her there later on. You two have fun, I'll be right here if you need me"  
After that Jamie went back to his room, flipping imaginary sweat from his forehead "That was close, luckily Bunny has a flower's name, should have been hard to come up with something otherwise"

But Jack wasn't listening, he was suddenly up like a spring and going towards Jamie's desk; his computer to be more precise. From the place he was standing in, Jamie couldn't see what was he doing, but after a while of clicking and typing Jack huffed and went towards the window.

"'Kay kiddo, gotta go, Google couldn't help me with this one" waving his hand, he jumped from the rafter and took off towards the forest, leaving behind a small snow bunny which Sophie hurried to play with.

Jamie, as any curious child would, looked at the computer screen, surprised to find a website like that, and then everything downed in him and, chuckling, turned to play with Sophie.

* * *

Meanwhile Jack Frost flew swift towards the closest tunnel leading to the Warren, hoping to find whatever he needed upon the multiple archives down in the same library that had started all this mess. So Bunny wanted to court him? Damn well he was getting courted back.  
He grinned, and with a small cheer, disappeared underground.


	4. Chapter 4

Grooming had become kind of a daily need, especially since the other need of grooming the little ice punk had appeared; Bunny often found himself covered in the dirt Jack brought from outside, and that was a wonder in itself, being that the kid spend 90% of the time on air and the rest on snow or ice. Good side was that the bits of loose fur he would take off his pelt could be used on his nest, adding some softness to the crunchy bits of dry grass and flexible twigs, and now more than ever he need his bedding to be comfortable, now that the idea of having chosen a potential mate had sunk in, and damn it all to hell if he would be rejected for not having a comfy place to rest in.

He sat on the edge of the nest for a while, remembering how he came to this point about the whole courting Jack affair…

* * *

_~Flashback~_

The whole mental ordeal had been rather tortuous; first the denial stage, he absolutely refused to believe he had ever conceived the thought of courting Jack Frost, that was just not possible! They not only had nothing in common, but there was the whole 'different species' issue, and of course, what would the others think? I mean, if it was even possible that the-the thing happened ("yeah, impossible, he-hehehe…hehe...oh my god I'm dead" thought Bunny).

Then came the panic. The Warren had never seen such a big spot of grass become a clear dirt rounding until the Easter Bunny decided to run in circles, pulling at his ears and biting off his nails. Crikey, holy shit, oh god, what the hell is wrong with me, words that were repeated over and over again with an attitude that gave the whole "mad like a March Hare" a whole new meaning, the poor Pooka was about to lose his fur out of pure stress, and if he was asked, he could not for the life of him remember what exactly went through his head at that point.

Third stage was rage. How could he!? It's all Frostbite's fault! Bet he used some-some kind of spell on me! As soon as I see his pale rear he's gonna be sorry to ever have crossed paths with me! Yadda-yadda-yadda, angry ranting, we get it.

And then, just as suddenly as he'd started, he stopped, stepping slowly out of the dirt and back into the grassy ground. His feet carried him to the nearest tree and cautiously he sat down, conscious of his sore legs. The wind softly ruffling his fur and the big shadow he was in gave him a comforting chill from the heating summer weather that passed this side of the globe. A soft hum left his mouth and, eyes closing, he debated with himself a little.

Leaving the mischief, tricks and pranks aside, the tyke wasn't that bad (a furry eyebrow twitched, and he fought to leave any residual anger behind) right, so he liked to play rough, and being alone for three centuries with no one to teach him the limits he could reach before turning annoying was really not his fault, Jack just wanted to have fun and be noticed, as the teen himself told him when discussing the whole Blizzard of '68 incident, but that didn't mean he had any ill intentions, just a need for someone to be there with him.

_I could do that, he's already here all day_

Jack was also an elemental spirit, meaning that wherever he went he would feel the need to ice everything over, and he usually did, but keeping the cold to himself whenever and wherever he knew it was wrong to let his powers free. Sure, he had dropped the Warren's temperature a few degrees a couple of times, and he liked to make snow and ice sculptures and leave them all over the place, which annoyed Bunny to no end.

_But they're rather nice, tho_

The need for attention reached more affectionate levels, he had noticed how relaxed Jack would be when around the other guardians, if only a bit on edge due to not being accustomed to be touched, but other than that he was always trying to be around everyone, giving as much affection as he received, being it a hug, a pat to the head, back or shoulder, or just sitting around and chatting about anything with a cup of hot cocoa and a plate of cookies around the fire. Frosty was exceptionally clingy to him when they were alone, always going for a hug or cuddling closer whenever Bunny would groom him.

_Being an oversized plushie does not help, apparently_ he thought with a fond smile, remembering being the target of a hug attack planned by Jack and Sandy once in a New Year's party.

And—Aster scratched his cheek, ears awkwardly dropping over one of his eyes—the kid wasn't bad looking.

Quite the opposite actually.

He might be a Pooka, but even he could tell that the kid was handsome, not in the typical 'nice body and face' kind, well, yeah, with all that stuff of the hair white as snow and the eyes that would put the sky to sulk in jealousy, and overall his whole body and face that seemed to be carved from ice itself and…ok, you get it, the kid was handsome.

But some details were what actually made Jack so irresistible to anyone who met him. He had an easy smile, a bright, shiny smile that ate his whole face that got people—and particularly fairies—swooning all over the place. He loved to laugh, and to make others laugh was even better in his books, and that added to his love for pranks was what gave the Guardian of Fun a right to his tittle, and damn everything if it wasn't charming how pleased he was when even the great E. Aster Bunnymund couldn't help but crack a tiny smile.

Just like he was doing right now.

And he was so warm too…uh…metaphorically speaking, of course. He was so welcoming, even with all the crap he had to deal with, not to mention the solitude he was forced to live in, he was just so happy to have friends and a family right now, and it was as if his sole presence could melt the winter he himself brought to the world. Bunny remembered one time during Christmas, after helping North deliver presents around the globe, all the guardians decided to hang at the Pole and just doze off next to the fire with warm drinks, and Jack, just having arrived from dusting some wintery wonder over Europe, had gone straight to sit next to him on a couch, handing him a small, badly wrapped gift with a crooked green bow and blue paper. After giving Frosty a suspicious glare and a few minutes of sniffing, tapping and shaking the package, he opened it to find a pair of very, very large wool 'sockets' of some sort. Jack had explained they were for when he had to run over the snow to get at Santoff Claussen, so he would warm his feet a bit quicker. Right after saying that, he fell asleep out of pure exhaustion, cuddling against the fluffy pillow that was Bunny's arm, the Pooka staring at him in wonder and trying to ignore the giggles of the other three guardians sitting at the other side of the room.

He absolutely did not wear the damn things every night. Nope.

And discovering later that the kid had made them himself did not make him a gigantic ball of weird, bubbly emotions, shut up.

The internal debate about his newly-discovered-but-not-so-newly-formed feelings for Jack Frost was prolonged for what he could guess was about an hour, and it would have been really funny for anyone watching, what with him suddenly smiling or frowning or shaking his head, even growling on one occasion. Aster wasn't known for having a really wide range of facial expressions, after all—if annoyed, stressed, angry and the even rarer relaxed, almost happy face was considered a 'range of emotions' at all—and to think of him having trouble talking to, well, himself? Hilarious.

Or at least that was what the ice elf suddenly standing in front of him thought.

Bunny was so focused on his inner struggle that his senses failed to catch the slight decrease in temperature, or the breeze petting his cheek, not until he actually felt something flopping to the ground in front of him.

Cracking an eye open, he came face to face with the little parasite of his mind, but couldn't bring himself to feel annoyed, he had already kind of, maybe accepted that this was his future mate.

"Awww, Big Bad Bunny is happy to see me? That's soooo cuuuuute" Jack grinned, sticking out a hand to pull lightly on Bunny's cheek, making him notice that he indeed was smiling, indeed, again, for the presence of the winter spirit.

"Rack off, mate, why would I be happy to see you, hmm?" Aster grunted, unwillingly playfully, swatting the cold hand away from his face, and instead of shooing the teen away, his paw went to take a leaf out of the white mop of hair. "Where do you even come from, Snowflake? I don't have this kind of plants at this time of the year" his voice turned curious, spinning the leaf in his fingers. Jack snatched it away and saved it in his pocket, getting up and tapping the rabbit over the head with his staff.

"Nothing you need to know, Peter. Unless you really are interested in my business?" Jack gave him a lopsided smirk, walking a little around Bunny.

"Of-of course not mate, just don't want stuff contaminating the place, teens nowadays, smoking everything they come across" what tried to sound like an accusatory remark turned more of a stuttering sentence, the movement Jack was making distracting him a little  
Goddammit, stop walking in circles!

"What, lil' old me? Naaah, it would melt my insides" finally noticing Bunny's discomfort, the young guardian decided to have some mercy and stop moving, but Aster's silent breath of relief would not last long, not when the teen decided it better to go and sit right on him.

Yeah, on him.

As in, his lap.

Having a lapful of future frosty mate wasn't something Aster could handle right now, but blame the cold body over him, the shock he felt, his instincts ruling him or just the nice scent of the kid, but Bunny found out he couldn't move from his spot at all.

And so he didn't put up much of a fight when his paw came to pet Jack's hair. Or the smile that spread through his muzzle when said boy sighed and snuggled closer. Or his other arm coming to support the dead weight of the kid the moment he had fallen asleep. Or the small kiss he placed upon the downy white tuft right before falling asleep himself.

_Screw it, this ain't so bad._

_~End of Flashback~_

* * *

A noise in the distance caught his attention and, standing up, he left the nest after making sure nothing was out of place. All through the tunnel and to the main room he could hear the noise clearer and clearer, until he recognized it as a voice, a voice calling for him. Finally reaching the door, he came face to face with Jack, standing there with a hand raised as if reaching for the knob, a basket dangling from the crook of his staff.

"Bunny!" there it was, the smile that was haunting his mind not five minutes ago "I've been looking all over for you. C'mon let's find a good place"

"Uhh…a good place for what, exactly?" unfinished sentences like that were not good for a poor guy like him, Jack, he's trying to get in your metaphorical and physical pants, remember?

Jack raised an eyebrow in amusement, and promptly pointed at the basket "Picnic? Thought I could treat you to something, for, y'know, being so nice and…letting me live here and all" he pulled his hoodie over his face as he said it, looking everywhere but at the rabbit in front of him

"So, waddya say? It'll be fun, promise"

He turned his head at the sound of the door closing, afraid that Bunny had ignored him, but was quite surprised to see the Pooka walking past him, grabbing the basket as he passed by.

"Is this the same one I gave you, Frostbite?" Aster said, remembering the gift he'd made Jack during the first stages of the courtship, only that that time it was filled with fruit and led to a nice grooming session. Bunny's heart fluttered at the thought of his interest keeping and using one of his presents.

Jack flew leisurely next to him, crossing his arms and resting them over the floppy ears in front of him "Yep. Might as well use it, been filling it with whatever I find on my trips or around here that calls my attention, but this was more important"

Aster slowly stopped waling "…more important?"

"I-I mean, I couldn't possibly fit all that in my pocket, much less carry it with my hands, and it was just...there, you know" He flew down and landed softly next to him, lifting the blue blanket covering the basket. It was filled with apples, fresh carrots, a few sandwiches and a big bottle of orange juice, and next to them was a tapper with some cupcakes. He covered it again and started walking again, making Bunny hop to reach him.

They walked silently, an awkwardly comfortable silence until they reached a nice clearing someway into the Pine forest north of the Burrow, warm enough for Bunny to flop around at will and chill enough for Jack to not need to freeze everything in a 4 feet radium.

"Huh, never thought you'd have a place like this in here. Isn't it a bit too cold for you taste, Cottontail?" he sat down cross-legged, hands going to his front pocket.

"A bit of diversity helps the ground. Anyway, how do you wanna do this?" he realized what he said the moment Jack's head sprung up so fast that his hoodie fell back, a blue-colored frost spread along his cheeks "Like…how…do you wanna just lay around or…have a prank planned on me or…"

"What?...Oh! no, nononono, just, let's just, we can chat, we don't really talk much, even though we've been together-LIVING together, as in, the same place, for a couple of months and…"

Yeah, the awkward silence was just waiting for its call.

Really awkward.

…

And then Bunny promptly flopped to the ground and started rolling around. Rolling and rolling and rolling as if the ground were covered with softest clover ever.

The sudden movement caused Jack to jerk enough to get him to his knees, the shock keeping him in place. But it didn't last long, for he started laughing at the rabbit's antics. What was he even doing? If it was his way of breaking the ice (pun intended) with Jack then he would say it worked wonderfully.

Apparently just rolling on his spot wasn't enough, and as soon as Jack's joyful laugh reached his sensitive ears, Bunny hopped up and tackled him playfully, landing with his head and arms sprawled over Jacks lap and part of his stomach, the fur at the tip of his ears on the pale face causing the guardian of fun to scratch at his nose. Aster too started to laugh, at least this was better than just standing there in silence.

"So, what else are you curious about?" Jack and Bunny had spent a good part of the evening on the clearing, just laying around, eating what Jack had brought and playing 20 questions to each other. So far they had talked about Jack's transformation to a spirit—Aster had held him when a few tears appeared in his eyes, Jack had sobbed a little at the memory over his fluffy chest—, the places they had visited over the years around the world, holidays ('But Easter would be so much fun with snow each year!' 'I said no, Snowflake, and stay away from my googies!'), Bunny's fascination with cute things, and, to the spring spirit's surprise, flowers, brought over by Jack himself. He had seemed really interested in the ways to keep a specific acidity on the ground and how to properly use mulch.

"Well…I don't know if this is a good subject but…I'd like to know more about…the Pookas" the teen flinched at the end of the sentence, waiting for Bunny to start yelling at him about how that was a private theme and he should not had even-

"That's fine"

"OH PLEASE I'M SORRY DON'T HI—wait, what?"

Aster chuckled "Really Jack, I'm not 'bout to pummel you just because you're curious, it's natural for nosy ankl'bitahs like yo-OUCH! The hell was that for?!"

After the whole rolling-and-tackling moment, Bunny had decided to just stay there where he landed, turning a little so he was facing Jack's stomach while still being able to keep eye contact with him, his hands had come to rest along his curled belly. Jack had used his position near Bunny's head and pulled one of his ears. Hard.

"I ain't no ankl'bitah, mate" he said, poorly trying to imitate the aussie accent "then…I'dlike to know about…your family?" he asked more than said, Aster chuckling breathily.

"Fair enough, you told me 'bout yours" he shifted a bit, laying face up this time, paws curled over his chest, looking at the sky as if the memory were there "Let's see…I'm…was, the oldest in a litter of four, had two lil' brothers and a sister, and my parents, of course. We were somewhat of a normal family, Pookas are not that different from humans in that aspect; mother takes care of the burrow, father teaches the kits, kits learn and play, the usual, just with a bit of fur and magic" he chuckled "I grew up faster, so they sent me to learn from other Pookas, elders, if you may call them somehow, and a special training in zen arts, we like to fight with both body and mind in that aspect"

"Yeah, I've noticed" Jack chuckled, remembering how Bunny's style of fighting resembled some of what he'd seen in that movie about the panda.

"Well, at some point I was sent to Earth to help with the formation of nature, wasn't easy to leave everything and everyone behind, but some things are worth it…" his eyes lingered a bit on Jack's face, who was absentmindedly playing with strands of fur from his ears, not noticing Bunny's stare. Good.

"Really? Like what?" Jack asked, almost hypnotized with the task of curling the greyish tufts around his fingers.

"Easter, children, googies, being a guardian, that kind of stuff"

"You like being a guardian then, uh?"

"Yeah…I love my center, after losing my entire kin to Pitch, it was like a message fallen from heaven…quite literally, if one think about it"

Jack stopped playing with his fur for a minute, letting his hand rub against the leaf mark on his forehead "…we all need hope in our lives…I'm glad that I'm friends with the personification of it" he added softly locking his eyes with the bright hope green colored ones, breaking contact after a while "So…are you bored yet? I did kind of appear with this idea out of nowhere"

"Nah mate, this is nice, has been a while since I last relaxed, and to be honest it feels kinda good to not have a brush in the paw"

"Yeah, how do you even hold that thing with your fluffy bunny fingers, anyway?" Jack asked with a grin, tickling said furry fingers with his own cold ones, Bunny jerked his paw away swatting Jack's cheek playfully in return, and if he'd lingered a bit on the cold, soft skin, it was just a product of Jack's hopeful imagination. Silence fell again, but this time it was a comfortable one, Bunny humming softly and Jack slowly getting the rest of his body down, sprawling completely on the chilly ground. Aster shifted again, moving his head from Jack's lap to his belly, facing the boy once more, even though he could only see his chin at this angle.

The teen's soft, even breathing made his stomach move softly up and down, lulling Bunny into a state of relaxation, even more when remembering just who was that he was cuddled with.

He closed his eyes. Sleep overtaking his body, and a cold hand resting against his cheek being the last thing he noticed before dreams swarmed his mind, dreams of blue colored eggs and snow angels.


	5. Chapter 5

March, it was already march and this whole circus of unresolved emotions kept going on.

Of course, after the small escapade to the forest, Jack and Aster had taken a damn big step in their wavering status of relationship, Jack had fallen asleep too deeply and Bunny had had to carry him back to the Burrow, and he as well took his sweet time doing so, humming along to the small noises Jack made everytime Bunny would step forward and lightly rock his body.

Jack had pulled a Sophie Bennet and refused to release Aster in his sleep, so the Pooka had to comply and drop the teen in his own nest along with him, not really fallen asleep himself, but just staring into space while Jack cuddled up to him, grunting in his dreams.

After Jack woke up and found himself there, he panicked until Bunny told him it was fine, and in a blurt was offered to sleep  
there from now on...if he wanted, of course. He did.

Now they've fallen in some kind of a routine, Jack would spend most of the day outside and come back at noon to spend time with Bunny, helping with the plants and the upcoming Easter preparations. At night they'd share the nest and no matter how far they would put themselves in the bedding, they always woke up tangled to each other, flustered to death and back.

And about the wavering status of their relationship? That happened when you spent one moment just chatting while painting eggs together and the next one sprawled on top of the other just to watch the grass grow.

Aster found out that he didn't mind too much taking more breaks than usual.

Jack also had taken to ask Bunny how to get new colors from the red, yellow and brown spectrum to paint the leaves in the upcoming Fall from the Southern hemisphere, and also liked to know about what each color meant. Aster took his time, also painting some leaves in some eggs to show him, and snowflakes in others, when Jack wasn't around.

And let's not talk about the penting up tension.

Many nights Bunny would stay awake for longer just to be conscious about the fact that Jack was actually there next to him, all defenses down, trusting the buck to protect him from any nightmare that could made his way down to the Warren. He would scent him softly, and if Jack was particularly tired, groom him in his sleep. Once the albino had woken up in the middle of Bunny passing his tongue over his neck, and had just giggled and went back to sleep, much to the Pooka's relief.

It was all turning to a scary domestic life, every single moment of not doing anything spent together painting, gardening, Jack cleaning the burrow and ocassionally learning typical Pooka cooking recipes he liked to try on Aster-he was fairly good at that, too-but Bunny just got more on edge with every little attention, completely believing that Jack was just confused and trying to be friendly, instead of purposely following step by step the basics of Pooka courtship.

And so the instincts gave way to those stupid, uncomfortable, horribly amazing feelings.

Bunny had always been afraid of flying, but that was exactly what he felt every time he would have his quality time with the elf; his entire being floating around in clouds while being caressed by a chilly breeze that did nothing but warm his skin and pet his fur. He didn't dare telling anyone about this, not Tooth, not North, not Sandy, not the helpers, not even his googies were to be wisers about the whole tornado of butterflies in his tummy.

So yeah, he was in love with the tyke.

Damn it.

* * *

"Jack Frost, you genius" a voice was heard from the depths of the warm southamerican forest, a teen invisible to mostly everyone hunched over something talking to himself and sprinkling a light dusting of snowflakes over the soft ground, which melted upon contact with the dirt, creating soft rivulets of water that seeped into the ground. A warm breeze blew by and the green leaves waved at him lazily, bugs buzzing around, minding their own bussiness, not noticing the presence of the cold body in the area. Stabbing the ground repeatedly with his staff, Jack made sure to make a full circle, before using the piece of wood as a lever to push the chunk of soil and roots over the surface.

Getting a firm, but at the same time gentle hold of the green main stem, the guardian of fun lifted the heavy piece of dirt, depositing it cautiously into a pot and accomodating stems, leaves and colorful petals with more delicacy that one would believe possible in such a reckless spirit.

Jack grinned at the pink buds still not blooming, touching them lightly with his cold fingers "C'mon, open up, we got a show to give, you know?" the bud just bounced lightly on its thin stem, guarding itself between its blossomed siblings. Jack sighed, still smiling at the rather simple flowers in front of him.

Straightening up and cleaning the dirt out of his clothes, the teen took his staff from the tree trunk it was leaning against and gathered as much wind as he could to make lifting the heavy flower pot from the ground and keep it flying over the ocean to the Warren an easier process.

With a determined expression, Jack took off.

* * *

The light was dimming, soft oranges and yellows shined over the mass of pinks and purples of the River of Coloring, reflecting and giving the whole Warren the appearance of a candyland-which wasn't so far from reality, if one thought about it-, egglets wandering lazily around the grass, leaning against the fluffy belly of the napping helpers.

Aster was having trouble focusing in weeding the ground around the egg producing plants. Even thought it was normal for Jack to dissapear the whole day and come back late at night, Bunny never felt at ease with his frostbite flying around when it wasn't his turn to go out and spread frost. His heart clenched at thinking that maybe he could be meeting with someone else, Jack wasn't officially his anything, after all, and was as free as a bird to go and do as he pleased. Still hurt, though.

His tense muscles relaxed at the sight of the evening light reflecting into a pale body coming from one of the tunnels, but tensed again at the weird mass following it, Jack swooping in circles around the thing to get it softly down onto the ground in a hill some yards away.

Bunny used his sharp eyesight to focus on Jack, watching the spirit crouch and fix something in the thing that was out of his visible range. Suddenly, the teen stood and bulleted out of the hill towards Bunny, landing in front of him with a halt, bouncing in the balls of his feet.

"Woah there, mate, what are you planning now, what was that thing oyu brought in?" Bunny stood himself, patting his paws clean in a clapping motion. His mouth twitched a bit at the smile Jack threw at him, the boy tilting his head and stretching his hand towards the rabbit.

"Come with me, I'll show you"

Aster cursed himself for not controlling his own body when his arm shot forward and grabbed Jack's hand tightly. It didn't seem to bother Jack, as his smile softened and turned to guide Bunny towards the hill he had been in before. Not being able to fly made Jack walk to an incredibly slow speed, and he took his time to look around the place, retaking flowers and eggs, and the fluffy rabbits going back to his own little burrows. Bunny instead looked at the way Jack bobbed his head at the rythm of his pace, or the way his unused to walking legs made his hips sway with every step.

He was too focused in the elf's rump, apparently, not noticing that Jack had stopped walking and turned around to face him, a knowing grin spreading along his pale face.

"Up here, buddy" Jack said with a laugh, Bunny's face quickly shifting to watch the blue eyes of the teen, heat spreading across his muzzle and down his neck at being caught.

The embarrasment didn't last, as the bright pink shining behind Jack's form caught his attention, eyes widening upon recognizing what it was that Jack had brought to his-their-home.

Asters. A big, colorful, beautiful bush of asters carefully placed in a painted clay flower pot. The bright pink flowers swayed around each other, stems trimmed to create the shape of a perfect circular bush, small buds starting to blossom in front of his eyes at the felling of the spring magic pouring from the earth, the wind bringing forth what small fragance the flowers could produce.

So that's why Jack smelt of soil.

"Do you like it?" Jack's soft voice reached his ears, making Aster turn to see the teen flushed blue and looking overall bashful, hands playing with his hoodie strings and toes scartching the ground. He was so beautiful.

Bunny sighed, a lazy smile making Jack squirm in his place in nervousness. The Pooka took a step forward and crushed Jack in the most tight hug in the history of ever.

"'Course I do, Snowflake, it's beautiful" Bunny rubbed Jack's back softly, cheek nuzzling the younger spirit's head "Did you found them somewhere or...?"

"NO!" Jack all but screamed "I-I mean no, I-I grew them m-myself" his voice got softer with each word, the last word only being heard thanks to the rabbit's powerful ears. Bunny's expression fell, and Jack started to shake in fear of being to straight forward with his gift "I th-thought you'd like them, I mean, they're really pretty and easy to grow, but I...I..."

The shaking took hold of all his body, and the sobbing coming from his throath did nothing to help him put on his usually secure façade, hands coming to grip in a deathly hold the tufts of fur on Bunny's back when the Pooka hugged him again, this time a strong, warm embrace, so full of affection that Jack could not help but broke down to cry, to scared of having just fucked up big time with a present that said too much to someone who knew too much.

"Shhh, calm down, Jackie, everything's fine" Aster flopped down on the ground, carrying Jack with him and holding him on his lap, rocking forward softly and letting the kid release all the tension traveling through his body.

After a while Jack finally calmed down enough to release Bunny's fur and look at the rabbit's face, cringing at the patch of wet fur where his face'd been "...sorry" he said sadly, petting the fur to try and get it back in shape.

Bunny chuckled and pecked Jack's head, sighing at the way the blue-clad shoulders tensed again "You said you grew this yourself, do you know what that means?"

Jack nodded, accomodating himself in the craddle that was Bunny's crossed legs, glazed eyes staring at the flowers "Asters seemed good, they remind me of you and you love flowers so..." he trailed off, shifting a bit to cuddle back to the soft warmth of the fluffy chest.

"They are. As god as anything can be"

"That" Jack pointed at the bush "is what I...what I'm asking from you, I guess"

"Both?" Aster asked.

"Yeah...both. The color says enough, don't you think?" Jack smiled for the first time in at least half an hour, a personal record for him.

"Well then, who am I to deny such a magnificent present" Bunny said, head coming to rest on Jack's shoulder, a paw reaching to stroke the tear striken cheek in front of him "No need to be scared, Frostbite, you've done everything right"

It seemed those words were what Jack was waiting for, for all the air contained in his lungs was released in a big breath, smile widening a bit more and hand coming to rub between Aster's ears, earning him a soft grinding of teeth from the rabbit. Jack turned his head slightly, watching Aster's bright green eyes with something akin to eagerness "Can I...I mean, can I just...?"

Aster seemed to catch up, nodding slowly at him with a grin. Jack reached and grabbed both furry cheeks in his hands, leaning forward to place his lips softly over the Pooka's.

It was slow, tentative, with a twinge of coldness proper of Jack Frost, and it made Bunny melt inside. Paw caressing softly the nape of Jack's neck, the other laying over his cold knee. Jack had closed his eyes, Bunny had kept them half-lidded, unable to resist the temptation of watching Jack's brow frown in concentration as he tried to make his obviously first kiss good enough. Bunny wanted to laugh at how cute the kid was, and actually a small laugh left his mouth, causing it to open and the tip of his velvety tongue to poke lightly at Jack's lips.

Jack wasn't expecting that, and he gasped and broke the contact, trying to catch his breath from holding it so long.

Flustered, the teen lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Bunny's neck, hiding his face in his scruff "...love you" was the muffled noise coming from the grey fur, making furry ears stand straight and a tail wag madly.

Bunny hugged the spirit back and nipped at the long neck in front of him, not enough to leave marks, though "Love you too, Snowflake"

It was madness, both thought, how a small accident had brought two being so different yet so similar together in something as deep as feelings, how they have twisted facts and actions to make the one go after the other, all thoughts going on and on as night arrived and stars twinkled in the dark sky, the couple lazying about after planting together the bush that had started and, at the same time, finished everything.

"Now I have to give you something" Bunny said abruptly as they headed to the Burrow, holding hands the whole way.

"Hm? why is that?"

"The asters, you put all that effort in them, and I'm here, bare-handed" Bunny's ears lowered in embarrasment at his lack of consideration.

Jack chuckled, stopping to float in front of him and wrap his arms around his neck "No need for that, I already have my own Aster to take care of" he then pecked him quickly on the lips, still not used to such an intimate gesture, and pulled him towards the door, tired from the whole emotionally straining ordeal and ready for a good sleep.

Aster wondered what the hell had he ever done to deserve someone so perfect, as he laid down to cuddle with the already drowzy ice spirit.

Sweet dreams were the only thing perturbing the calm air of the room, golden sand coming down to reveal the same dream in both minds, dreams of flowers and bunnies and snowflakes, all intertwined to create the calm realm that was solely theirs, in their dreams and their reality.

* * *

**Ffffffinally! god, I suck at writing romance, I can't describe things I've never felt, but I kinda like how this turned out, even if its kinda fast. Sorry if it's too ooc, also.**

**Asters mean both "Love" and "Patience", both things Jack is asking from Bunny, and of course he'll concede. Also, pink obviously means love, romantic love, that is, red is for more passion than romance.**

**And so we conclude this crappy sequel, thanks for reading, have a nice day!**


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